The Six Degrees of Separation
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: 'Reyna didn't cry when it had been two weeks. Reyna didn't cry when it had been two months. Reyna wouldn't have cried if it had been two years. Reyna did not let her emotions show on the outside. But she felt it. A dull aching where her hart was. Not as if it had been torn out, but as if it was dying. A piece of her was hurting like she had never experienced before.'


**The Six Degrees of Separation**

It was when he didn't arrive for his six AM training session Reyna knew something was wrong. Jason Grace had never missed a chance to show off his fighting skills. He was never late, either, so the dark eyed girl knew instantly that there was no point waiting around. She made her way to his villa on the hill overlooking camp, but found them to be empty. He wasn't at breakfast. He wasn't tending to Hannibal or Scipio. He wasn't training in the Fields of Mars. The more Reyna searched the grounds of New Rome the more Reyna found places her co-Praetor wasn't.

Asking around, no one had seen him. When a Praetor went missing everyone knew about it. Jason was a sign of authority and importance in the Roman Demigod community; everyone was out searching for him.

It wasn't like Jason to take off without notice. Though he and Reyna weren't exactly on good terms after last nights meeting with Octavian, who-once again-messed things up for the both of them, he still would not have left the grounds without informing her of his plans and taking back-up with him.

It was Gwen who finally told Reyna that he wasn't at Camp Jupiter. She nodded solemnly at the girl. Gwen didn't leave as expected, she stayed put, assuring Reyna that Jason would show up again soon enough. He was always the wisest and none lest, he could work his way through any dangers. Reyna walked away without a word, a tiny knot forming in her stomach.

_First, you think the worst is a broken heart_

Reyna didn't cry when it had been two weeks. Reyna didn't cry when it had been two months. Reyna wouldn't have cried if it had been two years. Reyna did not let her emotions show on the outside. She did not keep a glitter covered diary like the daughters of Venus, nor did she feel the need to vent to a close friend about her feelings like one either. Reyna kept her thoughts bottled tight and her emotions bottled tighter.

But she felt it.

A dull aching where her hart was. Not as if it had been torn out, but as if it was dying. A piece of her was hurting like she had never experienced before. Reyna had been through all sorts of fights and battles, attaining multiple injuries each time. Nothing felt quite like this. This was a unique type of pain, something she did not want to experience. It was possibly the worst pain she had ever felt.

_What's gonna kill you is the second part_

Reyna tried. She tried to get on with her life and act as if nothing was wrong. She tried to keep Camp Jupiter running alone. But every time she would look to her side and see the emptiness that matched her soul.

No one was out looking for Jason anymore. It wasn't that they had given up, they all just had more important issues to attend to. Or so Octavian claimed. Reyna had had to turn to him and his bears for 'guidance' when things got tough. It was expected that when things got a certain way she had Octavian sacrifice another bear to the Gods. She honestly didn't see what difference it made.

What hurt Reyna the most was seeing everyone act so casually. It killed her to see everyone else moving on from Jason's disappearance so quickly, without a second though in their heads. Reyna couldn't shake him from her mind, how could everyone else? Jason was out there somewhere while Reyna sat alone on her bed, the stomach knot growing bigger.

_And the third, Is when your world splits down the middle_

It was when he arrived at Camp did things get to their worst. Percy Jackson attracted too much attention. He was a bad omen amongst the Roman demigods. He was a Son of Neptune, that spoke enough on its own. Everywhere he went the other campers were stopping and whispering about him. Reyna found it disrespectful that in swept into camp and took all of the attention for himself.

Even when he took off in his quest with two of the lower ranked kids in the fifth cohort, everyone at camp spoke only of him, not of their missing Praetor. Reyna's chest sank deeper-while the knot in her stomach rose higher-with every whisper she heard of the new demigod. It started to feel as if she was the only one who remembered Jason Grace at all. If he didn't come back soon then his legacy was nothing. The battles he had fought and the monsters he had killed to help him gain his Praetor status in the first place would all be lost to history.

_And fourth, you're gonna think that you fixed yourself_

Waiting at Camp for the three to return from their quest was easy. Other problems arose that caught Reyna's attention and she was finally starting to realise that maybe Jason won't come back at all. And that was okay. Not all demigods survived. They weren't exactly close; frenemies was the word. They had a love/hate partnership that Reyna found quite stressful at times. Now she had room to breathe, especially without a new Praetor having been elected yet.

That was until Percy Jackson returned with a ghastly tale to tell. As he recounted what had gone on, he also added some news to life spirits; Jason Grace was more than likely to be at another demigod camp on the opposite side of the country.

_Fifth, you see them out with someone else_

It wasn't until she saw him come strolling back into camp with a few Greek demigods at his side did Reyna really wish to go back to a few months ago. It had been easier when he had been missing than it was to stand here and face him like this.

He hadn't changed too much since she had last seen him. His hair was a little longer and he had a new scratch or two on his arm, but he was still the same boy that had disappeared.

No. He wasn't.

Reyna had almost looked straight through the girl to his side. She didn't look like much to the Praetor, but there was something there. An invisible spark between the two when they moved close enough. It was confirmed for her at the feast. The way they looked at each other, the way they spoke to and about each other. They were...together.

The dark haired girl swallowed the lump in her throat. The knot that had been making its way upwards had almost reached the way out, and Reyna feared she would say something unforgivable if it escaped.

_And the sixth, is when you admit that you may have fucked up a little_

Reyna walked the ground alone. Not even her dogs came along. The fresh air and the loneliness felt good to her. Everyone was still fawning over the new guests so there was no one to bother the Praetor. Or at least she thought so.

"Hey, Reyna," his calm voice floated up from bind her as she stood atop the hill. How she had missed him. "You know I know that this is your favourite spot, right?" Reyna gave a tight smile as Jason stepped into her peripheral vision. "You seem...angry." He mumbled, suddenly losing his confident charm.

"I'm not angry," she replied with divinity-like quality to her tone.

"Upset, then," Jason said. Reyna did not argue. "I also know you know I know you better than anyone else." He was trying to get her to smile a bit more genuinely with his words. There were a thousand words to speak more formerly but Jason always chose the other way. Reyna meant a lot to him. He owed a lot to her. There had been times when he was on the edge and was the one to pull him, saving him from doing life-ending things.

They stood in silence, the wind rustling their purple togas. Reyna kept what she had wanted to say for so long still bottled up inside her. But Jason was practically psychic to her emotions and thoughts after all the time they had spent together as partners.

"I know this is about Piper." He spoke the statement with truth in his eyes, staring directly at the side of Reyna's head. She wouldn't look at him. "It wasn't going anywhere with us, Rey. We don't have those feelings." Jason left the words hanging in the air as he turned to go back to his new Greek friends. All Reyna could so was admit to herself that it was her own fault. If she had opened her mouth before he had gone. Told him what she needed him to hear. But it was too late. She admitted that this time she had fucked up just a little.

A/N: Poor Reyna, I feel for her.

Song is Six Degrees of Separation by The Script.

I love this song, having gone through it myself, and wanted to write a fic about it. After careful consideration I decided on the PJO/HoO fandom and then this person/couple/triangle...I don't really know what to call it.

This is my fourth time venturing into this fandom, but my first writing Reyna. I hope I kept her as in character as possible while also adding some more emotion to her. I feel that if we could see into Reyna's head we'd see a lot more complicated thoughts and feelings than anyone of us could ever imagine. But I gave it my best shot!

I cannot decide whether I like the way this turned out or not.

Mega thanks to my best friend and beta, ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm. If it wasn't for her very little of the information in this fic would be correct.

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


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